The Southbank

We met Alice and Maisie from the train at Waterloo and went down to the Southbank, where we ate at Wahaca - always a great selection of Mexican food and wonderful service. We made the mistake of sitting outside in the sunshine . . . and then it rained! But it was soon remedied. I liked this photo of the two by the river as we walked along afterwards. (The extra is one I took during lunch)

We had a lovely time chatting with these two, both about to take a major step in life. Alice is very excited to be starting at University and seems well organised (with help from her Mum and Dad) for her life away from home. She can’t wait to start at Leeds. Maisie is pondering A-level courses with a view to what she may want to do in the future. It’s good to hear them both talk so responsibly and animatedly about it all. It’s a privilege to be able to spend time with them

Later I got a visit to Waterstones at Piccadilly - that enormous place that I love. Amazingly I only bought one book and that was for someone else. But I enjoyed the extensive display of Penguin books from the past, celebrating 90 years of publishing. I recognised some of the old ones as ones I have on my shelves.

We have had a great day on London buses - as usual.